Random House New Releases - Social Science - Third World Development - Between May 22, 2012 and June 21, 2013.

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

2013-03-26T00:30:00-05:00

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce

“Raises complex and urgent issues.”—Booklist, starred review

How Wall Street, Chinese billionaires, oil sheiks, and agribusiness are buying up huge tracts of land in a hungry, crowded world.

An unprecedented land grab is taking place around the world. Fearing future food shortages or eager to profit from them, the world’s wealthiest and most acquisitive countries, corporations, and individuals have been buying and leasing vast tracts of land around the world. The scale is astounding: parcels the size of small countries are being gobbled up across the plains of Africa, the paddy fields of Southeast Asia, the jungles of South America, and the prairies of Eastern Europe. Veteran science writer Fred Pearce spent a year circling the globe to find out who was doing the buying, whose land was being taken over, and what the effect of these massive land deals seems to be.

The Land Grabbers is a first-of-its-kind exposé that reveals the scale and the human costs of the land grab, one of the most profound ethical, environmental, and economic issues facing the globalized world in the twenty-first century. The corporations, speculators, and governments scooping up land cheap in the developing world claim that industrial-scale farming will help local economies. But Pearce’s research reveals a far more troubling reality. While some mega-farms are ethically run, all too often poor farmers and cattle herders are evicted from ancestral lands or cut off from water sources. The good jobs promised by foreign capitalists and home governments alike fail to materialize. Hungry nations are being forced to export their food to the wealthy, and corporate potentates run fiefdoms oblivious to the country beyond their fences.

Pearce’s story is populated with larger-than-life characters, from financier George Soros and industry tycoon Richard Branson, to Gulf state sheikhs, Russian oligarchs, British barons, and Burmese generals. We discover why Goldman Sachs is buying up the Chinese poultry industry, what Lord Rothschild and a legendary 1970s asset-stripper are doing in the backwoods of Brazil, and what plans a Saudi oil billionaire has for Ethiopia. Along the way, Pearce introduces us to the people who actually live on, and live off of, the supposedly “empty” land that is being grabbed, from Cambodian peasants, victimized first by the Khmer Rouge and now by crony capitalism, to African pastoralists confined to ever-smaller tracts.

Over the next few decades, land grabbing may matter more, to more of the planet’s people, than even climate change. It will affect who eats and who does not, who gets richer and who gets poorer, and whether agrarian societies can exist outside corporate control. It is the new battle over who owns the planet.

From the Hardcover edition.

A Twist of Faith by John Donnelly

2012-07-10T00:30:00-05:00

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa
Written by John Donnelly

American Christians, veteran reporter John Donnelly has discovered, are an ever-increasing source of aid in Africa, with some experts estimating that U.S. churches supply more resources to Africa than USAID. In A Twist of Faith, he tells the unlikely story of how faith and determination compelled one such American Christian to travel to Africa and open a school for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. David Nixon, a carpenter from North Carolina who had lived through his share of trouble, knew nothing about the small, land-locked African country of Malawi. But after having a religious awakening and hearing about a preacher's efforts to aid its impoverished and beleaguered citizens, he raises money from his church and sets off to do what so many well-intentioned Americans of faith do in Africa: build an orphanage. But as his plans are beset with difficulties, Nixon slowly comes to realize that helping others requires listening to and learning from them. And that means changing his preconceived ideas of what the Malawians need and how he can best serve them. A Twist of Faith is the story of one man who, despite personal struggles, a profound cultural gap, the corruption of local officials, and the heartbreak of losing an orphan he comes to love, saves himself by saving others in a place nothing like home. Nixon's story is representative of a growing trend: the thousands of American Christians who are impassioned donors of time, money, and personal energy, devoted to helping African children.

A Twist of Faith by John Donnelly

2012-07-10T00:30:00-05:00

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa
Written by John Donnelly

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

2012-05-29T00:30:00-05:00

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce

Hardcover, 336 pages | Beacon Press | Social Science - Third World Development; Business & Economics - Development & Growth; Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection | $27.95 | May 29, 2012 | 978-0-8070-0324-4 (0-8070-0324-7)

“Raises complex and urgent issues.”—Booklist, starred review

How Wall Street, Chinese billionaires, oil sheiks, and agribusiness are buying up huge tracts of land in a hungry, crowded world.

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

2012-05-29T00:30:00-05:00

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce

eBook, 286 pages | Beacon Press | Social Science - Third World Development; Business & Economics - Development & Growth; Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection | $27.95 | May 29, 2012 | 978-0-8070-0325-1 (0-8070-0325-5)

How Wall Street, Chinese billionaires, oil sheiks, and agribusiness are buying up huge tracts of land in a hungry, crowded world.

An unprecedented land grab is taking place around the world. Fearing future food shortages or eager to profit from them, the world’s wealthiest and most acquisitive countries, corporations, and individuals have been buying and leasing vast tracts of land around the world. The scale is astounding: parcels the size of small countries are being gobbled up across the plains of Africa, the paddy fields of Southeast Asia, the jungles of South America, and the prairies of Eastern Europe. Veteran science writer Fred Pearce spent a year circling the globe to find out who was doing the buying, whose land was being taken over, and what the effect of these massive land deals seems to be.

The Land Grabbers is a first-of-its-kind exposé that reveals the scale and the human costs of the land grab, one of the most profound ethical, environmental, and economic issues facing the globalized world in the twenty-first century. The corporations, speculators, and governments scooping up land cheap in the developing world claim that industrial-scale farming will help local economies. But Pearce’s research reveals a far more troubling reality. While some mega-farms are ethically run, all too often poor farmers and cattle herders are evicted from ancestral lands or cut off from water sources. The good jobs promised by foreign capitalists and home governments alike fail to materialize. Hungry nations are being forced to export their food to the wealthy, and corporate potentates run fiefdoms oblivious to the country beyond their fences.

Pearce’s story is populated with larger-than-life characters, from financier George Soros and industry tycoon Richard Branson, to Gulf state sheikhs, Russian oligarchs, British barons, and Burmese generals. We discover why Goldman Sachs is buying up the Chinese poultry industry, what Lord Rothschild and a legendary 1970s asset-stripper are doing in the backwoods of Brazil, and what plans a Saudi oil billionaire has for Ethiopia. Along the way, Pearce introduces us to the people who actually live on, and live off of, the supposedly “empty” land that is being grabbed, from Cambodian peasants, victimized first by the Khmer Rouge and now by crony capitalism, to African pastoralists confined to ever-smaller tracts.

Over the next few decades, land grabbing may matter more, to more of the planet’s people, than even climate change. It will affect who eats and who does not, who gets richer and who gets poorer, and whether agrarian societies can exist outside corporate control. It is the new battle over who owns the planet.

Random House New Releases - Social Science - Third World Development - Between May 22, 2012 and June 21, 2013.

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the EarthWritten by Fred Pearce

A Twist of Faith by John Donnelly

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in AfricaWritten by John Donnelly

A Twist of Faith by John Donnelly

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in AfricaWritten by John Donnelly

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the EarthWritten by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the EarthWritten by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa
Written by John Donnelly

A Twist of Faith An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa
Written by John Donnelly

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce

The Land Grabbers The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth
Written by Fred Pearce